While having lunch with a dear friend of mine and discussing her current marital status (or lack thereof), it occurred to me that a lot of what my friend was basing her assertions on could just be poor marketing. You see, my friend was convinced that her long-time boyfriend was about to propose because he’d received not one, but two direct mail catalogs from a local jewelers. Was this a sign of her boyfriend hitting one knee? I argued that it wasn’t.
Along with simply wanting to manage her expectations, I was hoping that no business would be that short sighted about their clients’ information. How bad would that be if her boyfriend really had gone ring shopping and the places he’d visited had sent him the catalogs only to ruin the surprise?! Companies that want to survive and get business must know how to treat clients information if they want to gain their trust. In a world where no one wants to give up their information for fear of a landslide of spam, it’s imperative that when you do get their information you treat it with the utmost care.
This sort of care includes, first and foremost, never share this information with others without their consent and never, ever sell their information. This is a sure way to lose the trust of your clients. The second way to care for your clients privacy is to use their information wisely. This includes:
- Don’t send too many messages.
- Don’t send them irrelevant messages.
- Don’t send them messages to an unwelcome medium.
When someone gives you their information nowadays, they’re giving you their trust. That’s not easy to achieve as you know, so make sure you have put precautions in place so you don’t abuse their information. Any company that is serious about their long-term viability will make sure they have a privacy policy in place to tell their clients just what they plan to do with their information and they’ll also stick to the plan.
That’s why I’ve bet my friend that her boyfriend probably got a new credit card or the jewelers just bought a direct mail list for the area. She, of course, argued that the credit card must be for her engagement ring….
Author Bio: Valorie Reavis
Social Marketer, foodie, closet geekA marketing professional who has focused primarily on the hair and beauty business for of the past decade, Valorie now runs linkup marketing, a digital marketing agency for the hair and beauty professional. Valorie works to engage clients in the marketing process and help them successfully engage with their clients and community. Energetic and passionate about the industry, Valorie focuses on blending traditional and digital media in order to bring salons closer to their clients.
